Japanese

[Sunako_Nakahara_Girl]

Please move this if not in the right spot as this is my first thread.

Introduction:

Japanese writing:

A script is a way of writing. In English we use the Roman script. Japanese writing uses three scripts. These are called Kanji, hiragana and katakana.

Hiragana has 46 basic symbols or sounds in the hiragana “table” , which is like the English alphabet. It is also the easiest of all the script writings.


Katakana is also a set of sounds which can be out in a table like hiragana. The difference between hiragana and katakana is that katakana is used for writing foreign words. For example chocolate, it is written as “チョコレート” (read as “Choo Ko Re To”) sounds almost the same as when you say it in English.


Kanji came from China and is the most difficult script writing. I still haven’t learned it very well.


Here is the hiragana “table”. Each hiragana letter represents a syllable or sound- either a vowel, a consonant, or a consonant and a vowel.

When a Japanese person looks at a word like hiragana they would say that it has four letter or four syllables.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Ok So here is The Alphabet(read from right to left):


あ　A
い　I
う　U
え　E
お　O
---------------------
K
か　Ka
き　Ki
く　Ku
け　Ke
こ　Ko
-----------------
S
さ　Sa
し　Shi
す　Su
せ　Se
そ　So
--------------
T
た　Ta
ち　chi
つ　Tsu
て　Te
と　To
----------------
N
な　Na
に　Ni
ぬ　Nu
ね　Ne
の　No
-----------------
H
は　Ha
ひ　Hi
ふ　Hu
へ　He
ほ　Ho
-----------
M
ま　Ma
み Mi
む　Mu
め　Me
も　Mo
-----------
Y
や　Ya
い　I
ゆ　Yu
え　E
よ　Yo
---------
R
ら　Ra
り　Ri　
る　Ru
れ　Re　
ろ　Ro
----------
W
わ Wa
い　I
う　U
え　E
を　(o)
------------
N
ん N




K sound -> G Sound with “

か --> が
き --> ぎ
く --> ぐ
け --> げ
こ --> ご

S Sound --> Z Sound with “

さ --> ざ
し --> ？
す --> ず
せ --> ぜ
そ --> ぞ


T Sound --> D sound with “

た --> だ
ち --> ？じ？
つ --> ？づ/ず？
て --> で
と --> ど


H Sound --> B sound with “


は --> ば
ひ --> び
ふ --> ぶ
へ --> べ
ほ --> ぼ

H Sound --> P sound with (little circle)


は --> ぱ
ひ --> ぴ
ふ --> ぷ
へ --> ぺ
ほ --> ぽ

----------------
Twisted Sound

Ki

Kya　きゃ
Kyu　きゅ
Kyo　きょ
------------------
Shi

Sha　しゃ
Shu　しゅ
Sho　しょ
------------------　
Chi

Cha　ちゃ
Chu　ちゅ
Cho　ちょ
--------------------
Ni

Nya　にゃ
Nyu　にゅ
Nyo　にょ
----------------
Hi

Hya ひゃ　
Hyu　ひゅ
Hyo　ひょ
------------------

Mi

Mya　みゃ
Muy　みゅ
Myo　みょ

---------------------

Ri

Rya　りゃ
Ryuu　りゅう
Ryo　りょ

-----------------

Gi

Gya　ぎゃ
Gyu　ぎゅ
Gyo　ぎょ

-----------------

Ji

Ja　じゃ
Ju　じゅ
Jo　じょ

-----------------

Bi　

Bya　びゃ
Byu　びゅ
Byo　びょ


If you do not know how to pronounce the letters(sounds) go to this site and click on the letter and it will tell you how to say it: http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lesson/j/doc/kana.html


Numbers :

One – ichi – いち　

Two – ni – に　

Three – san – さん　

Four – shi/yon –　し/よん　

Five – go – ご　

Six – roku – ろく　

Seven – shichi/nana – しち/なな　

Eight – hachi – はち　

Nine – ku/kyuu – く/きゅう　

Ten – jyu – じゅう　

Kanji Numbers:

One - 一

Two - 二

Three -三

Four -四

Five - 五

Six - 六

Seven -七

Eight -八

Nine -九


A Few Simple Useful phrases you should learn:


はい - hai - Yes


いいえ - iie - No


おはよございます - ohayo gozaimasu - Good Morning.


こんにちわ - Konnichiwa - Good After Noon


こんばんは - Konbanwa - Good evening


さよなら - Sayonara - Good-bye( this is usually said to teachers and people older than yourself and it also shows that you have respect. )


なに？- nani - Means : What?


あい - ai - Love


おうちo u chi - Home


あお - ao - Blue


あか - aka - Red


うえ - u e - up/above or upstairs


おなまえは？- onamae wa - What’s your name.?


Yen - en - えん


What - nani - なに


English – erigo- えいご 　英語


Man – otoko no hito -　おとこのひと　　男の人


Love it – daisuki - だいすき　


Japan – nihon－にほん　


Japanese – nihongo　にほんご　


How do you do? – Hajimemas.shi.te –　はじめまして


I(females) – Watashi –　わたし


I(males) – Boku –　ぼく


[particle marking topic of sentence] – wa(ha) –　は


Am, is, are – desu –　です


Off/absent – yasumi –　やすみ


I’d like to introduce my family. – watashi no kazokuwo shoukaishi masu.-　わたしのかぞくをしょうかいします。


I have # of people in my family – [number of people you have in your family] nin kazoku desu. –にんかぞくです。(just add the number you have in your family to the front of the sentence)


How many people do you have in you family? – nannin kazoku desu ka? –　なんにんかぞくですか？


My parents love music. –Ryoushin ha ongakuga daisuki desu.–りょうしんはおんがくがだいすきです。


My older brother loves chocolate.- Onii-chan ha chokore-toga daisuki desu. –おにいちゃんはチョコレートがだいすきです。

I don’t like……. Very much. – [something you don’t like] sukijyanai. –　すきじゃない (just add what ever you don’t like to the front of the sentence)


I’m home. – tadaima.! –ただいま！


Welcome back! – okae rinasai- おかえりなさい


How many people? –nannin–なんにん？？


How much does it cost? – ikura desu ka – いくらですか？


How many? – ikutsu – いくつ？



おげんきですか - O-Genki desu ka - How are you? (Literally "Are you well?").



ありがとうございます。げんきです - Arigatou gozaimasu. Genki Desu - Fine, thank you.


おめでとうございます - Omedetou gozaimasu - Congratulations!


おだいじに - O-daijini - Take care of yourself.


どうも　ありがとうございます - Doumo arigato gozaimasu - Thank you very much.


どいたしまして - Dou itashima****e - You're welcome.


すみません - Sumimasen - Excuse me. I'm sorry.


ちょっと　まってください - Chotto matte kudasai - Wait just a moment please.


もういちどおねがいします - Mou ichido onegaishimasu - Once more, please.


きおつけて - Ki o tsukete - Take care!/Be careful!


あぶない - Abunai - Look out!


だめです - Dame desu - Out of the question./Impossible./No good


がんばってください　- Gambatte Kudasai. - Keep your chin up! (Said to encourage someone).

Mother(when referring to someone elses mother) – Okaasan –　おかあさｎ

Mother(when referring to your own) – haha –　母

Father(when referring to someone elses father) – Otou-san 　おとうさｎ

Father(when referring to your own) - chichi –　父

Sushi – sushi –　すし

Moon – tsuki –　つき

Desk – tsu kue –　つくえ

Chair – isu –　いす

Shoes – kutsu –　くつ

Clock – tokei –　とけい

Hand – te-　て

Map – chizu　ちず

Box – hako-　はこ

Person – hito –　ひと

Mt.fuji – Fujisan-　ふじさｎ

True/really? – hontou –　ほんとう

Weird – hen –　へん

Snake – hebi –　へび

So-So – maamaa –　まあまあ

See – mimasu-　みます

Bug/ignore – mushi –　むし

Glasses – megane –　めがね

Peach – momo –　もも

Wait a minute – Cho to ma te –ちょつとまて

Years old- sai – さい

Phone number – denwabangou –　でんわばんごう

Cell Phone Number – haitai no bangou –　はいたいのばんごう

What is your phone number? – denwabangouwa nan desuka? –　でんわばんごうわなんですか？

My Number is_________. – watashi/boku no denwabangouwa 632 no 3516 desu. –　わたし/僕の電話ばんごうわ６３２の３５１６です。(example number not real)



きょうのことば(- kyou no kotoba-word of the day)：

はれ(-hare -sunny)

--------------------
Some Kanji’s

Yen – en -円

What – nani -何

Man – otoko no hito - 男の人

Boy – otoko no go - 男の子

Japan – nihon -日本

Japanese – nihongo -日本語


---------------------------------------


Please Tell me If you see any grammar mistakes or mistakes with the hiragana.

Also if you see something that needs to be added or fix please tell me.

I will be making new lessons every week if at least 20 people like this.

[Edit] STILL not finished fixing everything.!

[Gano]

Relevant to my interests for sure, thanks for this.
Possibly stupid question: So a word's kanji is basically a unique symbol for that word, but you could still sound it out in hiragana and have it mean the same, correct? Using kanji pretty much just streamlines it?

[edit] oops post of the beast

[Sunako_Nakahara_Girl]

Yes it is. usually words in kanji look like it's meaning.

& Not sure about the sound. I don't know much kanji(still learning).

-M^_^

[Nyokou]

Cool. Although I think moogy might glance at this and criticize your Japanese.

I have no idea what the writing means... Although I can usually pick out words when it's spoken verbally.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by Sunako_Nakahara_Girl

Yes it is. usually words in kanji look like it's meaning.

Yeah, when I think of the number 5, I always see a big fat "五" in my mind. Or 8: "八". Sure, there are 1, 2, and 3 ("一", "二", "三" respectively), but that means nothing, not when the vast majority of the numbers don't look like what they are.

How about Male/Female? "男"/"女". Looks just like the personification of male/female to me. If it was me, I would have made it | and O...

The only ones that are even similar don't even look much like what they are. Mountain is "山". Does that look like a mountain to you? Fire is "火". Looks a little like fire I guess. Tree is "木". Again, I can see how it could be a tree, but honestly it SORT OF looking like a tree isn't going to help you read it. My point here is that MOST kanji LOOKS NOTHING like what it is.

That said, a beginner's best friend is furigana. Without furigana, it is LITERALLY impossible to "sound out" a word that you're not familiar with. You might be able to UNDERSTAND what it means (if you're familiar with the kanji in other uses), but you won't be able to READ it correctly.

And dude, you're obviously still beginning. Beginners shouldn't teach. Heck, I wouldn't even feel comfortable teaching things to a beginner and my current level is higher than what my high school teacher's was. Also, your explanations of pronounciation are counter productive. "haah ee". That is not how "はい" is supposed to sound.　What you're saying would be more like "はあいい". You also weren't very clear in your "vocabulary list". Some of those words are different depending on context (such as "愛", or as you put it, "あい"), while other things are only to be used in a certain way (such as that, as you put it, "あお" is a noun and you're not supposed to use that form of the word to describe something as being blue in color).

Originally Posted by Gano

So a word's kanji is basically a unique symbol for that word

Not "unique", no. You need to know the context a lot of the times to know what the reading of the kanji is.　Certain kanji can have multiple different meanings AND readings depending on context.

Originally Posted by Gano

but you could still sound it out in hiragana and have it mean the same, correct?

Not necessarily. Some words are always in kanji when used by native speakers (ie non-weeaboos). I don't think you would ever see "わたし" or "なに" in Japan, since it would always be "私" and "何" respectively.

Originally Posted by Gano

Using kanji pretty much just streamlines it?

Not always. It's more of a roadblock to beginners or anyone not familiar with the kanji.

ps @ OP: you said that "ouchi" means house, but in reality, it's just "uchi". See, this is something you probably haven't learned yet, but that leading "o" on it is honorific "o" and isn't actually part of the word. Perhaps you've heard the phrase "o genki desuka?", meaning basically the same as the English "how are you?" Well, the affirmative response to that would be "genki desu". When referring to yourself you never use the honorific o, but when referring to others, it is done for politeness. This is why I'm a bit confused here though... I was under the impression that uchi was only used to refer to one's own house. Maybe I'm mistaken?

[chidori!]

this will be very handy thnks

[Zageron]

I like it, but everyone should learn how to speak it first. :3

[nestlekwik]

An appreciated attempt nonetheless. In earnest, I wish I would have learned katakana prior to hiragana because it usually has more relavance in my video games, but I guess you have to learn the basics first.

I have probably even less experience than Afrobean, but I would list the ち as chi, the つ as tsu and を as o (the particle, not the letter). You would also have to further note that a small つ placed prior to a constant can denote the word contains a double consanant such as きつて, which would be transcribed as kitte, not kitsute (kitte means postage stamp if you really want to know).

And as Afrobean said, you really have to watch your vowels. Another note is in hiragana, う can also be used to indicate a vowel is long and does not actually add in a "u" to the word.

I can tell Afrobean is much proficient than I though, since he knows more about kanji. I can recognize numbers 1-10, the kanji for person/people, kanji for gatsu and nichi (month and date) and some of the elemental kanji that gets used in the days of the week and that's about it. It would probably be beneficial of others went over the information too since I'm not as advanced as others on the site.

But, yeah, nothing wrong with keeping a journal of what you're learning. It can help you out and if helps others out, nothing wrong with that.

[jimerax]

sry too many errors in those

[SethSquall]

Originally Posted by nestlekwik

An appreciated attempt nonetheless. In earnest, I wish I would have learned katakana prior to hiragana because it usually has more relavance in my video games, but I guess you have to learn the basics first.

I have probably even less experience than Afrobean, but I would list the ち as chi, the つ as tsu and を as o (the particle, not the letter). You would also have to further note that a small つ placed prior to a constant can denote the word contains a double consanant such as きつて, which would be transcribed as kitte, not kitsute (kitte means postage stamp if you really want to know). It's also evident you are still learning because you do not have the g, z, d, b, p, etc. forms of the hiragana donoted by adding two strokes to the characters you have listed (hiragana and katakana make it easy like that).

And as Afrobean said, you really have to watch お. In hiragana, お can also be used to indicate a vowel is long and does not actually add in an "o" to the word.

I can tell Afrobean is much proficient than I though, since he knows more about kanji. I can recognize numbers 1-10, the kanji for person/people, kanji for gatsu and nichi (month and date) and some of the elemental kanji that gets used in the days of the week and that's about it. It would probably be beneficial of others went over the information too since I'm not as advanced as others on the site.

But, yeah, nothing wrong with keeping a journal of what you're learning. It can help you out and if helps others out, nothing wrong with that.

Mmhmm. That being said,

Hiragana seems like a over enthusiastic place to start but whatever cool.

Anyway here are some useful expressions. Just for future reference or giggles or whatever. Helps me to study anyway by typing these out.

こんばんわ - kombanwa - Good evening.

さようなら　- Sayounara - Good bye.

おやすみなさい - Oyasumi nasai - Good night.

じゃまた - Ja mata - Well then.... (Said like "Well then.....I'm off guys").

いってらっしゃい - Itte rasshai - So long (Said to someone leaving the house meaning "Go and come back").

いってまいります - Itte mairimasu - So long (Reply to itte rasshai, "I'm going and will be back).

ただいま - Tadaima - I'm back (Said on returning home).

おかえるなさい - Okaeri nasai - Welcome home (Reply to "tadaima").

おげんきですか - O-Genki desu ka - How are you? (Literally "Are you well?").

ありがとうございます。げんきです - Arigatou gozaimasu. Genki Desu - Fine, thank you.

おめでとうございます - Omedetou gozaimasu - Congratulations!

おだいじに - O-daijini - Take care of yourself.

どうも　ありがとうございます - Doumo arigato gozaimasu - Thank you very much.

どいたしまして - Dou itashimashite - You're welcome.

すみません - Sumimasen - Excuse me. I'm sorry.

ちょっと　まってください - Chotto matte kudasai - Wait just a moment please.

もういちどおねがいします - Mou ichido onegaishimasu - Once more, please.

きおつけて - Ki o tsukete - Take care!/Be careful!

あぶない - Abunai - Look out!

だめです - Dame desu - Out of the question./Impossible./No good

がんばってください　- Gambatte Kudasai. - Keep your chin up! (Said to encourage someone).

[QuadDamage]

Actually kanji is very meaningful -- it is useless to look at it as a physical description of each meaning. Sometimes you have to examine the radicals, which have meaning themselves.

For instance: 男 is man, or otoko (or dan or nan depending on context/form). It certainly doesn't look like a man, but that's not the point. It's composed of two radicals:

Chikara (kun-yomi form), ryoku or riki in on-yomi form:力, meaning power or strength
Ta (kun-yomi form), den in on-yomi form: 田, meaning rice field

What do you get when you look at the fusion between power and rice fields? You're looking into historical contexts here about how men of strength were linked to labor with respect to rice fields. Now of course, kanji is basically ripped from Chinese :P

Just a note, on-yomi versus kun-yomi is a sort of difference in reading depending on context. Usually combined forms of kanji take on the Chinese pronounciation (transliterated into Chinese, that is, via on-yomi. The overlap is much more obvious if you actually know Chinese).

[SethSquall]

First group of Hiragana

ああ　- aa - oh

いい - ii - good

いう - iu - speak

ええ - ee - yes

おく - oku - to place

あかい - akai - red

いく - iku - go

け - ke - hair

こい koi - carp

かい kai - shell

こけ - koke - moss

かき　- kaki - persimmon

あう - au - meet

いえ - ie - house

うえき - ueki - potted plant

おか - oka - hill

あき - aki - autumn

いけ - ike - pond

きく - kiku - hear

こえ - koe - voice

おい - oi - nephew

きかい - kikai - machine

くき - kuki - stem

いか - ika - squid

かう - kau - buy

えき - eki - station

あく - aku - to be open

あかい - akai - red

あおい - aoi - blue

いいえ - eei - no

うえ - ue - top

おおい - ooi - many

かく - kaku - write

かお - kao - face

けいこ - keiko - practice

おおきい - ookii - big

ここ - koko - here

あい - ai - love (awww)

えかき - ekaki - artist

[QuadDamage]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

This is why I'm a bit confused here though... I was under the impression that uchi was only used to refer to one's own house. Maybe I'm mistaken?

You can use uchi for other people's homes. For instance "Tomodachi no uchi ni itta" might mean you simply went to a friend's house. It's easier to think of "uchi" as "home" -- if you're wanting to refer to the house itself, you might use something like "ie"

BTW there are many errors in your initial post. For example, "Today" is supposed to be "Kyou" and not "Kyo." "Ti" and "Tu" are actually chi and tsu (if you wanted to write ti and tu you'd use te with small i and to with small u, respectively). Also missing a "u" on "ohayou," as well as the "u" on "sayounara." Also, you use the wrong "wa" for "konbanwa," which should use the "ha" character instead of the "wa" character. In Japanese, "wa" is a subject indicator. You're basically saying, literally, "This evening (topic)" as a form of greeting. You make the same mistake again with "konnichiwa" which again, is written as "konnichi ha," meaning "This day (topic)," which makes sense since that's what you're basically saying as a greeting. Also, one more ha/wa confusion for "o namae wa." Also, "o uchi" is just silly. At least stick with something like "otaku" if you absolutely want to use an "o" here, lol.

The wa/ha rule will always hold when using subject indication. You never use the "wa" character. Same goes for "wo" and "o." You always use "wo" when referring to action on some given entity -- never the "o" character. "Hon wo yomimasu" would be the correct to say/write "read a book" for example. You'd use the "o" character, for example, when referring to something honorable, like in "o namae wa nan desu ka" when inquiring for someone's name.

[SethSquall]

Particles are annoying to learn but I'm getting there.

My favorite one is "no" though. It's just nice to say in a sentence.

Watashi no chichi wa hon o yonde imasu
わたしのちちはほをよんでいます

Probably something wrong with that somewhere but practice practice practice eh?

[QuadDamage]

You forgot the 'n' on "yon" in hiragana.

Also, while it's all technically correct, I'd advise just sticking with "chichi" instead of "watashi no chichi" since "chichi" implies "watashi," as you use phrases like "chichi" or "haha" to refer to your own family.

[Dimitri13]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

Yeah, when I think of the number 5, I always see a big fat "五" in my mind. Or 8: "八". Sure, there are 1, 2, and 3 ("一", "二", "三" respectively), but that means nothing, not when the vast majority of the numbers don't look like what they are.

How about Male/Female? "男"/"女". Looks just like the personification of male/female to me. If it was me, I would have made it | and O...

The only ones that are even similar don't even look much like what they are. Mountain is "山". Does that look like a mountain to you? Fire is "火". Looks a little like fire I guess. Tree is "木". Again, I can see how it could be a tree, but honestly it SORT OF looking like a tree isn't going to help you read it. My point here is that MOST kanji LOOKS NOTHING like what it is.

Actually, Afro, it does. All Kanji comes from a pictograph in Chinese. It may not look like it now, but it did.

This site might be helpful: http://www.kanjigraphy.com/mainpages/info/history.html

[Edit] I do not believe OP is from Japan. She has made too many mistakes in her post. I believe she is a 14 year old American girl who wishes so hard to be Japanese. (Weeaboo) Mod, track IP please :{

That, or she just recently moved to Japan and is trying to share her (albeit partly incorrect) knowledge with us.

Although I'm still going for the first one.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by QuadDamage

Actually kanji is very meaningful -- it is useless to look at it as a physical description of each meaning. Sometimes you have to examine the radicals, which have meaning themselves.

For instance: 男 is man, or otoko (or dan or nan depending on context/form). It certainly doesn't look like a man, but that's not the point. It's composed of two radicals:

Chikara (kun-yomi form), ryoku or riki in on-yomi form:力, meaning power or strength
Ta (kun-yomi form), den in on-yomi form: 田, meaning rice field

What do you get when you look at the fusion between power and rice fields? You're looking into historical contexts here about how men of strength were linked to labor with respect to rice fields. Now of course, kanji is basically ripped from Chinese :P

Just a note, on-yomi versus kun-yomi is a sort of difference in reading depending on context. Usually combined forms of kanji take on the Chinese pronounciation (transliterated into Chinese, that is, via on-yomi. The overlap is much more obvious if you actually know Chinese).

You might not believe it, but my first draft of my post above made mention of the rice field + strength thing, but I cut it out because I didn't know the reading for those kanji rofl.

Also you romanize weird rofl who cares about useless U in romaji I dont think ive ever met anyone that would have a problem with "arigato" before

Originally Posted by QuadDamage

You forgot the 'n' on "yon" in hiragana.

Also, while it's all technically correct, I'd advise just sticking with "chichi" instead of "watashi no chichi" since "chichi" implies "watashi," as you use phrases like "chichi" or "haha" to refer to your own family.

Yeah, that's something else that people just starting out probably won't realize. When referring to your own father, you use chichi yet when you refer to another person's father, you use otoosan.

ps

Yeah, that definitely looks like a woman, and that other one definitely looks like a mother. I think you missed my point completely. There are more than a few that do come from a physical appearance of the thing that it is, but the vast majority of them look nothing like what they are, ESPECIALLY INTANGIBLE THINGS

[Dimitri13]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

but the vast majority of them look nothing like what they are, ESPECIALLY INTANGIBLE THINGS

...

WHAT'S THINK LOOK LIKE? HMM OK! LET'S MAKE IT LOOK LIKE SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT HURHURHURRR

[SethSquall]

Originally Posted by QuadDamage

You forgot the 'n' on "yon" in hiragana.

Also, while it's all technically correct, I'd advise just sticking with "chichi" instead of "watashi no chichi" since "chichi" implies "watashi," as you use phrases like "chichi" or "haha" to refer to your own family.

Oh yea didn't think of it like that.

So would you say, "Anata no otousan"? As in your father?

Also,　ちちはほんをよんでいます

Is that right?

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by SethSquall

Oh yea didn't think of it like that.

So would you say, "Anata no otousan"? As in your father?

Also,　ちちはほんをよんでいます

Is that right?

You can leave out pretty much everything in Japanese. Let the listener fill in the gaps. If you know that they know what you're talking about, then you typically don't need to say it.